Ready Reference Treatise: The Miser

By Raja Sharma

“The Miser” by Moliere was first performed on 9th September, 1668, in the Palais Royal in Paris, France. It is a five-act comedy in prose. During the production of the play, Moliere’s company was under the protection of Louis XIV himself.

The play is inspired by the Latin comedy “Aulularia” by Plautus. Several incidents, a few dialogues, and Italian farces have been borrowed from the Latin comedy and Italian plays.

Ready Reference Treatise: The Miser
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Major Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Dec 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370699087

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

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Ready Reference Treatise: The Miser

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: The Miser

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2016 Raja Sharma

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Content

Ready Reference Treatise: The Miser

Copyright

Chapter One: Introduction

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

Chapter Three: Major Characters

Chapter Four: Complete Summary

Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

Chapter One: Introduction

The Miser by Moliere was first performed on 9th September, 1668, in the Palais Royal in Paris, France. It is a five-act comedy in prose. During the production of the play, Moliere’s company was under the protection of Louis XIV himself.

The play is inspired by the Latin comedy Aulularia by Plautus. Several incidents, a few dialogues, and Italian farces have been borrowed from the Latin comedy and Italian plays.

Harpagon is the miser of the title. The name Harpagon was adapted from the Latin Harpago which means a hook. Harpagon happens to have gathered a lot of wealth. He is obsessed with his money. He is a miser never overspending his money.

Harpagon is a widower. Cléante is his son and Elise is his daughter. He is past sixty years of age, but he is trying to marry a young woman named Mariane. It is revealed that his son Cleante and Mariane are already in love with each other.

Cleante tries to get a loan to help Mariane and her sick mother. They are impoverished. On the other hand, Elise, Harpagon’s daughter, is in love with Valère, but Harpagon wants her to marry a rich man whom he has chosen for her. His name is Seigneur Anselme.

Valère begins to work as a steward in Harpagon’s house. He starts working there because he wants to be close to Elise. Eventually, at the end of the novel it is disclosed that a few of the major characters are actually long lost relatives.

The Miser is a wonderful blend of satire and farce. The plot of the play moves at a rapid pace after the wealth stored by the miser is stolen.

When he is asked whom he suspects, Harpagon declares that he suspects everybody. He tells the officer to put the whole town and the people living in the suburbs behind bars. He also indicates the audiences who are watching the play.

Several of the theatrical conventions are ridiculed by this play. The situation becomes highly humorous when the spoken aside are addressed to the audience.

The characters on stage want to know who that dialogue is actually spoken to. Thus the play makes fun of the dramatic convention of spoken aside.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

The first scene of the first Act begins in Harpagon’s house. As the curtain rises, we see La Fleche waiting for his master. La Fleche is actually Valère who has become a servant in that house to be close to Elise, Harpagon’s daughter.

He had first